GAZA CITY – An Israeli envoy held talks with Egyptian officials Sunday on a ceasefire in his country's offensive on Gaza as Israel widened the range of its targets, striking more than a dozen homes of Hamas fighters and two media officials. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was ready to “significantly expand” its operation against Hamas. But British Foreign Secretary William Hague warned that a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip would lose Israel much international sympathy and support. Hague told Sky News television it was much more difficult to limit civilian casualties in a ground assault and it would threaten to prolong the conflict. In Cairo, officials said that the head of the Arab League and a group of Arab foreign ministers will visit Gaza Tuesday to show solidarity with Palestinians. Arab league ministers had called at an earlier meeting for a mission to go to Gaza. Arab League Secretary General Nabil Al-Araby told reporters in Cairo the visit would take place Tuesday. A League source said Al-Araby would lead the delegation. Efforts to find an end to Israeli offensives intensified as 10 civilians were killed, including five children, in the conflict's highest one-day civilian toll yet. Upon arrival at Cairo's international airport, the Israeli official was whisked away directly from the tarmac and taken to talks with Egyptian authorities, Egyptian security officials said. Hamas is linking a truce deal to a complete lifting of the border blockade on Gaza. Hamas also seeks Israeli guarantees to halt targeted killings of its leaders and military commanders. Israeli officials reject such demands. They say they are not interested in a “timeout,” and want firm guarantees that the rocket fire will finally end. Past ceasefires have been short lived. As the offensive moved forward, Israel found itself at a crossroads — on the cusp of launching a ground offensive into Gaza to strike an even tougher blow against Hamas, or pursuing Egyptian-led truce efforts. “The Israeli military is prepared to significantly expand the operation,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting. At the same time, Gaza fighters continued their barrage of rocket fire, firing more than two dozen at Israel Sunday, including a longer-distance projectile that targeted Tel Aviv for a fourth straight day. One rocket damaged a home in the southern city of Ashkelon, punching a hole in the ceiling. Expanding targets to strike the homes of suspected commanders appeared to mark a new and risky phase of the operation, given the likelihood of civilian casualties in the densely populated territory of 1.5 million Palestinians. New strikes Sunday leveled homes in Gaza, burying residents under the rubble as rescuers frantically dug for survivors. In all, 57 Palestinians have been killed, including 24 civilians, and more than 400 civilians have been wounded, medics say. Israel launched the operation last Wednesday by assassinating Hamas' military chief and carrying out dozens of airstrikes on rocket launchers and weapons storage sites in response to mounting rocket attacks. Over the weekend, the operation began to target Hamas government installations as well, including the offices of its prime minister. Israel's chief military spokesman. Brig. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, said the military had been ordered to go after Hamas commanders Sunday, in addition to rocket squads, in “more targeted, more surgical and more deadly” attacks. “I imagine in the next few hours, we will see ongoing targeted attacks on gunmen and Hamas commanders,” Mordechai told Army Radio. “More targeted, more surgical and more deadly.” The strikes on the media centers hit two high-rise buildings, damaging the top floor offices of the Hamas TV station, Al-Aqsa, and a Lebanese-based broadcaster, Al-Quds TV. Six Palestinian journalists were wounded, including one who lost a leg, a Gaza press association said. Foreign broadcasters, including British, German and Italian TV outlets, also had offices in the high-rises. Two missiles made a direct hit on Al-Aqsa TV's 15th floor offices, said Bassem Madhoun, an employee of Dubai TV, which has offices in the same building. Building windows were blown out and glass shards and debris were scattered on the street below. – Agencies
